The romantic painter L.J. Kleijn, a pupil of Andreas Schelfhout, painted many winter landscapes with figures skating and sledging on reflective ice. In addition, he made summery river and beach views and panoramic landscapes, in which he manages to capture the calm atmosphere and warm light of a summer day. In all his landscapes, usually with a low horizon and a strong diagonal set up, the water plays a major role. Kleijn, who was born in Loosduinen, mainly painted in The Hague and the surrounding area. Just as his romantic contemporaries did, Kleijn also usually composed his landscapes in the studio, using the sketches he had made outside. Around 1840 he spent some time in Kleve, Germany. It is not known whether he went there because of B.C. Koekkoek; there are no concrete indications that he took lessons at his drawing academy. Kleijn's Kleve period is witnessed by a number of paintings with city motifs or the surroundings of Kleve as subjects. Presumably he also traveled the Rhine valley near the Siebengebirge.